Not to good with computers could really use some help?

[No1Special]

A friend of mine, who "knows computers" reformated it and wiped it clean. Well now it runs better and I have no sound. When ever I try to play a song on winamp it says " bad directsound driver". Can anyone help me get my sound back please????

[SamIAm]

Your friend is a jerk.

It's going to be a little hard to diagnose this from here. Open the Settings > ControlPanel > SystemProperties > Hardware > DeviceManager and see if your soundcard is listed. (It's likely there with a big yellow exclamation point on it, which means the driver probably isn't installed right. But let us know what's there.)

[No1Special]

OK I did that, under-> sound, video and game controllers. Multimedia Audio Controller, has a yellow question mark in front of it.

[Freakin]

will you list everything under sound video & game controllers?

We need to figure out what kind of soundcard you have and get new drivers for it. Can you tell me anything about your system? Is it a namebrand or custom build? Does it have a model number?

Your friend is either a) a jerk, or b) doesn't "know computers" as well as he thinks.

[No1Special]

Its a Dell 4500, about 2-4 years old. Running XP Pro.
Listed under Sound, Video and Game Controller are:
1. Audio Codes
2. Legacy Audio Drivers
3. Legacy Video Capture Devices
4. Media COntrol Devices
5. Multi Media Controller, now has a YELLOW exclamation point on it.
6. Video Codecs
Manufacturer is Realtek

Now, under the properties for #5, it says "device is not configured correctly. Code 1

On a side note. WHenever I try to reboot my computer. It says it found new hardware and it the above mentioned #5. I try to Update and install a new driver it shuts my comp down, and never finds a driver.

Any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated.

[Freakin]

You can go here and put in your service tag from your computer
http://support.dell.com/support/down...gen&~ck=bt

It *should* pull up your original system specs and show you what audio hardware you had installed.

They have links to the audio drivers.

[No1Special]

tried that already and nothing worked.

[Freakin]

you got the realtek drivers?

see if there is a chipset driver available from dell.

reinstall directx (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en)

Try restarting windows audio service (start-->run-->services.msc-->Windows Audio-Right click and start/restart service)

[funkyworms]

Have you tried running Windows Update? It will sometimes detect missing drivers. The driver there may be old but it should work until you find a better option.

[No1Special]

DId that, and still I have no sound. Would it be easier to just get a new sound card?